How to make a Rust hackable crate timer plugin (shorter VIP hack)

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using Oxide.Core;

namespace Oxide.Plugins
{
    [Info("Hackable Crate Timer", "RustPluginGenerator", "1.0.0")]
    [Description("Overrides hackable locked crate hack time and gives VIP players a shorter duration.")]
    public class HackableCrateTimer : RustPlugin
    {
        private const string PermVip = "hackablecratetimer.vip";

        private PluginConfig config;

        private class PluginConfig
        {
            [JsonProperty("Normal hack seconds")]
            public float NormalHackSeconds = 900f;

            [JsonProperty("VIP hack seconds")]
            public float VipHackSeconds = 450f;

            [JsonProperty("Announce hack in chat")]
            public bool AnnounceHack = true;

            [JsonProperty("Include player name in announcement")]
            public bool AnnouncePlayerName = true;
        }

        protected override void LoadDefaultConfig() => config = new PluginConfig();

        protected override void LoadConfig()
        {
            base.LoadConfig();
            try
            {
                config = Config.ReadObject<PluginConfig>();
                if (config == null) throw new Exception();
            }
            catch
            {
                PrintWarning("Configuration file is invalid, using defaults");
                LoadDefaultConfig();
            }
            SaveConfig();
        }

        protected override void SaveConfig() => Config.WriteObject(config);

        protected override void LoadDefaultMessages()
        {
            lang.RegisterMessages(new Dictionary<string, string>
            {
                ["HackStarted"] = "<color=#e07b39>{0}</color> started hacking a locked crate!",
                ["HackStartedAnonymous"] = "A locked crate is being hacked somewhere on the map!"
            }, this);
        }

        private string Msg(string key, string userId = null, params object[] args) => string.Format(lang.GetMessage(key, this, userId), args);

        private void Init()
        {
            permission.RegisterPermission(PermVip, this);
        }

        private void OnCrateHack(HackableLockedCrate crate)
        {
            if (crate == null || crate.net == null || crate.IsDestroyed) return;

            float seconds = config.NormalHackSeconds;
            BasePlayer hacker = BasePlayer.FindByID(crate.OwnerID);

            if (hacker != null && !hacker.IsNpc && permission.UserHasPermission(hacker.UserIDString, PermVip))
            {
                seconds = config.VipHackSeconds;
            }

            // Overrides the vanilla duration the crate counts down from.
            crate.hackSeconds = seconds;

            if (!config.AnnounceHack) return;

            if (config.AnnouncePlayerName && hacker != null && !hacker.IsNpc)
            {
                Server.Broadcast(Msg("HackStarted", null, hacker.displayName));
            }
            else
            {
                Server.Broadcast(Msg("HackStartedAnonymous"));
            }
        }

        private void Unload()
        {
            config = null;
        }
    }
}

Hooks used: OnCrateHack

Created automatically on first load at oxide/config/HackableCrateTimer.json.

{
  "Normal hack seconds": 900,
  "VIP hack seconds": 450,
  "Announce hack in chat": true,
  "Include player name in announcement": true
}

1. 1

   Register the VIP permission

   Init registers hackablecratetimer.vip with permission.RegisterPermission(PermVip, this). The prefix matches the lowercase class name HackableCrateTimer, which is how Oxide expects permission strings to look. Grant it with oxide.grant user <steamid> hackablecratetimer.vip or to a group with oxide.group add vip followed by oxide.grant group vip hackablecratetimer.vip. Without the permission a player always gets the normal duration.

2. 2

   Read both durations from config

   The nested PluginConfig class holds NormalHackSeconds, VipHackSeconds, AnnounceHack and AnnouncePlayerName, each with a [JsonProperty] name so the generated oxide/config/HackableCrateTimer.json is readable. LoadDefaultConfig fills the defaults, LoadConfig reads the file and falls back to defaults if parsing fails, and SaveConfig writes it back. Admins edit the JSON and reload the plugin; no recompile needed.

3. 3

   Intercept the crate before its countdown runs

   OnCrateHack(HackableLockedCrate crate) fires when a player starts a hack. The plugin null-checks crate, crate.net and crate.IsDestroyed because the entity can be gone or dying. It then assigns crate.hackSeconds to the value it wants. Assigning hackSeconds here replaces the total duration the crate counts down from, so the number you write is the number of seconds the hack takes.

4. 4

   Find out who started the hack

   The plugin resolves the hacker with BasePlayer.FindByID(crate.OwnerID) into a local BasePlayer hacker. It checks the reference is non-null, that hacker.IsNpc is false, and then calls permission.UserHasPermission(hacker.UserIDString, PermVip). That call is what selects VipHackSeconds over NormalHackSeconds. If the lookup returns null or the player is an NPC, the local seconds variable stays at NormalHackSeconds.

5. 5

   Announce the hack in chat

   After setting crate.hackSeconds, the plugin returns early unless AnnounceHack is true. It builds the text from the HackStarted language key with hacker.displayName as the {0} argument passed to Msg, or from HackStartedAnonymous when AnnouncePlayerName is false or the hacker reference is not a real player. Server.Broadcast sends the resulting line to every connected player. Language strings live in LoadDefaultMessages and can be edited in oxide/lang/en/HackableCrateTimer.json.

6. 6

   Keep the hook cheap

   OnCrateHack only fires when a player starts a hack, not on every tick, so a single Server.Broadcast and one permission lookup are fine. The plugin still avoids PrintWarning inside the hook and only logs a configuration problem at load time. The broadcast is gated behind AnnounceHack so servers that want the timer change without the noise can silence it entirely in the config file.

1. 1

   Save HackableCrateTimer.cs

   Keep the file name exactly as the class name. Oxide matches them.
2. 2

   Upload it to the plugins folder

   Oxide: oxide/plugins/. Carbon: carbon/plugins/. The server compiles and loads it within a few seconds, no restart needed.
3. 3

   Edit the config if you want

   On first load the default config is written to oxide/config/HackableCrateTimer.json (Carbon: carbon/configs/HackableCrateTimer.json). After editing, reload it:oxide.reload HackableCrateTimer c.reload HackableCrateTimer # Carbon
4. 4

   Grant the permission

   Give it to every player, or swap default for a group such as vip:oxide.grant group default hackablecratetimer.vip c.grant group default hackablecratetimer.vip # Carbon

Each one opens the generator with a ready prompt you can tweak.

• Per-location timing

  Give Oil Rig crates a different hack time than Cargo Ship or CH47 drops.

  Generate this version

• Team-based VIP

  Treat a hacking player as VIP when any member of their team has the permission.

  Generate this version

• Broadcast with map marker

  Drop a temporary map marker on the crate position when a hack starts.

  Generate this version